Today we’d like to introduce you to Andre Patron
Hi Andre , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
A few months into community college my father was deported and I had to dropout of school.He was helping me pay some of my school expenses so there was no way I could afford it on my own. I took a construction job impulsively. I needed to help my mom pay the bills and I couldn’t let my family down. Quickly I realized that construction wasn’t my cup of tea. I only lasted about a year until I quit. Once again desperate for job I took a job at a small market in Logan , making sandwiches and pizzas at their deli. It was quite fun and I enjoyed making the food, especially the pizzas. After about a year I decide to apply at a high end pizzeria in La Jolla thinking ” there’s no way they’ll hire me.” I was hired on the spot. At this new pizzeria , I quickly moved up the ranks , and my love for pizza started growing rapidly. In about 10 months I went from pizzaiolo , to pizza supervisor , then assistant manager. Shortly after taking the assistant manager position I was struggling financially again. So , unfortunately , I had to go back to construction. Construction was not something I loved but it definetly put food on the table and helped pay the bills.
I worked construction for 10 years ,and throughout those 10 years I always ended up working at a pizza place as side income or on the weekends. I was truly starting to love the art of pizza making. I worked at multiple pizzerias in San Diego. I relocated to Long Beach for some time for my construction job and even worked at a pizza place there. This specific pizza place was wood fired and I also moved up the ranks quickly. That’s when I fell in love with that specific style of pizza. Ive worked with New York style , Chicago style , and I loved them all. But when I started working with wood fired I knew it was my calling.
One lonely night in my Long Beach apartment I was sitting there thinking ” there’s no way I could ever start a business, I don’t have the money or the education.” My family didn’t come from money and my father not being around anymore really made things difficult for us. I knew I had to do something to make ends meet for my family. I decided to move back home to San Diego and do everything in my power to try to make this pizza thing work. I didn’t have much money nor any business experience. I knew if I gave my all I could maybe just have the slightest chance of making this work.
I started brainstorming and thinking of what I could do withy small budget. I started off making two ovens out of BBQ grills and pizza stones. It didn’t look very great and I tried making pizzas for my friends and it failed miserably. Pizzas were raw , the pizza stones broke , and my friends still said the pizza was good. I know they lied. It was a failure so I ditched that plan and scraped up some extra money and bought a single pizza propane oven. There I was , on my mother’s balcony making pizzas. They were coming out pretty good ! My family and friends kept pushing me keep going, but there was always a lot of doubt and fear on my mind. I couldn’t afford to take a big loss on an investment.
Finally I made the decision to go for it after hearing my friends and family in my ear for so long. I took almost all of my savings and ordered a 3 pizza oven online. I spent a big chunk of money on all the supplies I needed to make pizzas. Dough bins , spatulas , containers , pizza peels , ladles. I got the oven and spent about 2 months making pizzas in a driveway for friends and family , and they were loving them.
One day my sister in law told me there was going to be a small neighborhood market and they were looking for a food vendor. I did not think I was ready for that whatsoever , but something in my heart told me to just say yes !
I regretted it. I was stressed , I was scared and I wanted to back out.
The morning of the market event was here , and I wanted to bail ! I remember talking to my dad over the phone that morning and telling him I didn’t want to go and that I think I. messed up the dough. He convinced me to just go for it !
So I went through with the event. I set up for the event and I was mind blown , I had a line and everyone was loving the pizzas ! 4 hours later we sold out ! about 50-60 pizzas in 4 hours! A domino effect rippled and I was getting offers for spots in markets and events left and right !
It was full speed ahead after that !
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
absolutely not .
It has been quite the struggle in every aspect. Plenty of times where quitting seemed like the right thing to do.
I only went to college for about 3 months , so a lot of things were a lot more difficult for me. I knew nothing about sales , numbers , permits , licenses , or just anything about a business period.
Not to mention I was still working my full-time construction job the entire time. There were PLENTY of sleepless nights. Working double shifts between construction and pizza. Work a full construction shift , sometimes overtime , go straight to shop for pizza ingredients , followed by prepping all night. The next morning up at 4:30 am , work a construction shift , go load up all of the pizza stuff and do the event. Most events ended at 9 or 10pm followed by an hour of clean up and getting home and unloading and washing up. I would get maybe 2-3 hours of sleep and be up for work again at 4 am. I was pushing myself to both physical , and mental exhaustion. My girlfriend thought I was crazy. The only thing that kept me going was my love for pizza and the dream of one day owning a pizza shop.
We’ve been impressed with Sun Coast Pizza, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are Sun Coast Pizza , and we specialize in craft wood fired pizza ! We strive to give everyone an unforgettable pizza experience by using nothing but love and passion into our recipes. We want to give quality pizza without taking any shortcuts. Our pizza dough is an old Italian method that takes days of preparation for it to be ready. So days before the actual pizza is made and fired in the oven , it has already been in the works for 2-3 days. We do this to properly ferment the dough and create a good gluten structure. The fermentation gives the dough an amazing taste and also makes it easily digestible. The last thing we want is for someone to eat our pizza and they feel bloated , sick to their stomach , or have digestion issues. Nobody should have to drink an alka seltzer along with a nap after eating pizza. We take pride in our food for we see it as a form of art that has so Many options , characteristics and many factors in all aspects. Glad to say we also take health into consideration. Healthy pizza ? Let’s do it ! We do not use any seed oils which has been proven to be bad for our health ! We also cut our own cheese by hand , never buying pre shredded cheese. We made that decision because some of those shredded cheeses have micro-plastics or chemicals to prevent the cheese from clumping together ! WE DO NOT WANT THAT ! We went with wood fired because it just cooks everything better in my opinion. The fire gives everything a bit of a char and gives the vegetables a fire roasted taste ! Wood fired techniques go back hundreds of years and it is amazing how it never fails now matter how much time passes by. Wood , fire , and an oven and you can cook or bake anything ! We don’t use any fancy ovens with digital thermometers or adjustable temperatures. All we have is an oven , flame , and some awesome pizzaiolos that know how to read an oven by experience , technique , and knowledge !
We are a small business that means we love talking and engaging with our customers. They can talk , and watch us make their pizzas and see how much actually goes into making it ! We usually don’t get to see our food be made because it happens in the back of house or kitchen. But here you can see it all unfold.
What matters most to you? Why?
Having happy customers.
There Is no better feeling than having a customer come up to us and seeing the joy in their face after eating our pizza. It puts the biggest smile on my face to hear someone say ” your pizza was amazing ! “
There is no better feeling. That’s what keeps me going and that’s what makes everything worth it !
Contact Info:
- Website: https://suncoastpizzasd.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suncoastpizza/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567765162050
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sun-coast-pizza-san-diego
